Liverpool have bemoaned VAR’s inability to rule Luis Diaz’s goal onside in Saturday’s loss at Tottenham and confirmed they will ‘explore a range of options available’.
The nine-man Reds fell to a 2-1 loss at Spurs but the result could have been different if Diaz’s first-half strike had been allowed to stand.
Though Curtis Jones had already been sent off at this point, Liverpool thought they had taken the lead when Diaz found the bottom corner after meeting a through ball from Mohamed Salah, though the offside flag was later raised and the goal was chalked off.
However, replays showed that Cristian Romero was playing Diaz well onside and this decision should have been reversed. VAR Darren England confirmed that his check of the decision was complete thinking that referee Simon Hooper had given the goal, with PGMOL claiming ‘significant human error’ led to Liverpool not taking the lead.
Once the referee orders play to restart, the decision following a VAR review cannot be reversed.
Liverpool have now released a statement on Saturday’s controversial events.
The statement reads: “Liverpool Football Club acknowledges PGMOL’s admission of their failures last night. It is clear that the correct application of the laws of the game did not occur, resulting in sporting integrity being undermined.
“We fully accept the pressures that match officials work under but these pressures are supposed to be alleviated, not exacerbated, by the existence and implementation of VAR.
“It is therefore unsatisfactory that sufficient time was not afforded to allow the correct decision to be made and that there was no subsequent intervention.
“That such failings have already been categorised as ‘significant human error’ is also unacceptable. Any and all outcomes should be established only by the review and with full transparency.
“This is vital for the reliability of future decision-making as it applies to all clubs with learnings being used to make improvements to processes in order to ensure this kind of situation cannot occur again.
“In the meantime, we will explore the range of options available, given the clear need for escalation and resolution.”
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